Fiat lux
by alex14andra
Summary: It's Bellatrix' first morning at Malfoy Manor after her escape from Azkaban. Written for the weather-challenge.


**Fiat lux**

It was a cold morning in January, the sun started to rise and fought its way through the fog around Malfoy Manor. The earth was covered with frost, turning once green grass into a white carpet that sparkled in the sun. A crow was circling around the house, searching the ground for something to eat. Two cats, a black and a grey one, were sleeping on the doormat, their bodies pressed against each other to keep warm.

Inside the house everyone was still sound asleep. In the sitting room the fire in the chimney was slowly dying. Glasses stood on the mahogany table and leftovers, carelessly dumped on white plates with golden patterns, were a memory of last nights celebrations. It had been a long night for all residents of the Malfoy Manor, a night they all would remember for a very long time.

Cautiously the door was opened and two house elves entered the scene. Quietly they picked up the dishes and fluffed up the pillows on the sofa. After cleaning the table, they took two brooms and sweeped the floor. With skillful hands they set the table for breakfast, decorating it with lovely pale-pink and white roses. Mrs. Malfoy always insisted on fresh flowers in the morning. When the elves were done they checked the room one last time and left. Everything was quiet again.

Outside the crow saw a mouse, which was looking for some food, running across the path to the Manor and crowed excitedly, breaking the silence again. The black hunter eyed its prey for one short moment, before it shot down, and dug its claws into the helpless victim. Satisfied, the bird flew up to the sky again, leaving with the capture. The intruding noise from outside awoke one of the people in the house.

Bellatrix Lestrange slowly opened her eyes, feeling dizzy. Her mind was as foggy as her view, but when it got clearer she realized that something was wrong. She had a terrible headache, that was one thing she knew for sure. But she didn't know where she was or what had happened, so she glanced around. A dusky room, with classy, dark brown, antique furniture, in contrast creme colored wallpapers. On the sideboard was a bouquet of flowers, colors fitting the wallpapers. The dark haired witch smiled. Only one person she knew would decorate a room like this. Her sweet sister: Narcissa.

Slowly her memories came back to her. She was at Malfoy Manor, safe, no Dementors around her, a cosy mattress to sleep on. She sighed in relieve. Yes, her Lord had finally come for her, like she always knew he would. Finally she had been released from Azkaban, fleeing to the house of her sister. After cleaning herself, taking a long, wonderful shower, washing her hair with rose scented shampoo, she had dressed in a black dress again. For the first time in many years she had felt like herself again. Narcissa had given her her wand back, she had kept it all these years. Bellatrix remembered that she should ask her sister how she got it, she could only assume that Lucius had had something to do with it. It seemed that once his position in the ministry came in handy. The feel of the walnut wood in her hand had been very satisfying. Testing her magical powers she had imperioed one of the houseelves, much to her sisters disapproval. Bellatrix had almost cried of the immense pleasure of being able to do magic again. How she had missed it, sitting in a dark, stinking cell for the whole day, fearing the dementors. She had felt so helpless against those ghostly creatures, who had slowly sucked her life and her soul out of her.

After the little incident with the elf, the freshly reunited family had eaten together, Narcissa had arranged a wonderful banquet. It was a quality in her sister, Bellatrix had always admired, even in little time she was able to make a wonderful and big party. The Dark Lord hadn't shown up, rumors had it that the was abroad. Then they had celebrated the whole night, catching up on everything missed in the last years.

Oh yeah, the celebration. Bellatrix' head still hurt like hell, but her sister had placed a healing potion on her nightstand foresightedly. The dark witch took it gratefully, felling an instant relief. Oh yes, magic was wonderful.

She got up and opened the big, dark curtains that forbad the rays of sunlight to enter the room. When she was younger she had never thought fondly of the sun, but after almost thirteen years without seeing it, it was just gorgeous. Once again she felt like a child, seeing the wonders of Earth for the first time. She realized that she didn't need all the luxuries the house could offer her, there was one desire she had had all the time in Azkaban. She wanted to feel the sun on her skin again, to close her eyes while looking at the sun and just see warm colors, shades of red, orange and yellow. Surprisingly she had missed the small pleasures of life the most, not the fancy clothes or the money, but standing bare feet in the grass alone, enjoying the beauties of the world and forgetting all troubles for a short period of time.

„Wonderful" she whispered with tears in her eyes. She knew she had missed too much, spending almost a third of her life in prison. But now everything would be alright. With childlike joy she decided to go down into the gardens, almost running from the room, heading down the stairs.

She didn't take the time to put shoes on, she just opened the big brown door and stepped outside. The cats on the doormat jumped up and ran away, hiding behind a bush, eying the intruder skeptically. Slowly she walked along the path, starring up to the sky. It was freezing cold, but it didn't matter to her, she closed her eyes, the sun warming her face. In the back of her mind she registered some noise inside the house, but she didn't bother to look up.

„Bella, come in! You're freezing to death." Narcissa yelled, standing in the door, but Bellatrix didn't react. So Narcissa sighed and put on a big, brown cloak and Lucius' slippers that where standing by the door. When she walked over to her older sister, the cats took the opportunity and ran into the house. Usually they weren't allowed inside, but Narcissa really didn't care now. Cautiously she touched her sisters shoulder: „Bella? Are you alright?"

„It's so beautiful..." the dark witch whispered, still lost in her thoughts.

„I know, but you don't even have your shoes on." Narcissa answered quietly. „Here, take my cloak." With one swift movement she threw it around her sisters shoulders. „We can come back out later, when it's warmer." she told her sister, directing her back into the house, closing the door behind her. She had feared that Azkaban would change the proud death eater, but to that amount? It would be a long way to get her back to her normal self again, but she hoped that Bella would recover. Maybe an early return of the Dark Lord would help her to get back on her feet soon.

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Thank you for reading my story! I want to thank Jessika for beta-reading the story. I hope there aren't too many mistakes left, as English is not my first language it's hard for me ;)

Please tell me what you think, I love reviews...


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